


Leave Her Alone, and She Becomes a Time Bomb

by a_xmasmurder



Series: Marvel Bites [5]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Bucky Barnes finds a Friend, Cats, Gen, Pets, Stress, Violence towards Plants
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-20
Updated: 2014-11-20
Packaged: 2018-02-26 08:54:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,038
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2645819
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/a_xmasmurder/pseuds/a_xmasmurder
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Avengers plus one come back to a not-clean Tower.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Leave Her Alone, and She Becomes a Time Bomb

“Well, that was...enlightening.” Tony yanks hard at what remains of his left arm plating, pulling the whole thing off in a twisted mess that sparks and shrieks. “Remind me not to go one-on-one with Dracula again. Ever.”

Steve laughs. “Well, at least you didn’t have him going for your neck every minute he got near you.” Bucky sees Steve raise a tentative hand to the side of his neck, where two scrapes are healing quite nicely, and feels the old rage boiling hot and hard in his gut. His left hand tightens into a fist that makes his knuckles creak worryingly. The wounds may be healing, but the blood staining the collar and shoulder of the new stealth suit Steve is wearing… Bucky growls as he follows the two men up the back ramp of the QuinJet. As he sits down in the jumpseat, Steve spares a quick glance for him, eyes soft and blue and knowing. It is almost as comforting as a hand on the shoulder, and Bucky nods back, pushing down the beast inside his head telling him his next mission.

Thankfully, everyone is quiet on the way back to the Tower. Even Clint is silent, but that could be because his hearing aids are clenched in one hand, useless thanks to an EMP burst. Sam has already checked Clint’s reactions and ears twice, and the archer doesn’t look too willing for a third go-around. Tony is busy designing something new on his tablet, so his attention is drawn. Bruce is sound asleep on the floor of the plane, curled around Natasha of all people as she sits cross-legged in the middle and cleans her guns. Bucky finds his hands already going through the motions of breaking down his rifle, as automatic as breathing to him still. He doesn’t look at Steve again the entire flight.

**  
  
  
**

Bucky takes ‘his’ stairs up to his and Steve’s floor mainly to avoid the disaster zone of Thor’s entrance. When that man is angry, you stay the hell out of his - “What the everloving fuck happened?” The words slip out of him before he can clamp his mouth shut because the whole living room is… well, the words ‘shaken snowglobe’ come to mind. He knows there isn’t a chance of an intruder. He’s calmed down about that since Tony lets him patrol when he gets itchy. But what the hell? He steps over the threshold and stares blankly around at the scattered pillow stuffing and shredded papers strewn throughout the room. He’s suddenly glad he locked his bedroom and bathroom doors before they left...oh. Oh man.

The front door is open the tiniest of cracks.

“Son of a bitch. Clint.” Bucky shakes his head and goes out the way he came in, knowing that Little Shit is somewhere in the Tower having a complete meltdown over having no one to play with.

**  
  
  
**

What he finds when he opens the access door to the main room is much the same, except the stray underwear he plucks up from the carpet. Not his.

“Bucky, your cat is a basket case.” Tony snatches the underwear from Bucky’s hand and scowls. “She’s bonkers.”

Bucky winces. “She’s prob’ly got anxiety.”

“Animals don’t get -”

“Actually, they do.” Bruce stops and grabs the underwear from Tony. “Thanks. It looks like she got into my bedroom and had fun with my hamper.”

“Please, please tell me those were clean.” Tony’s sort of adorably annoying when he whines like that. “Please, Banner.”

“Yes.” Bruce nods and laughs. “Yes they are. Or were.” He holds them up, and there’s cat hair everywhere. Unfortunately, Little Shit’s also torn holes in them. “Not that it matters.”

“Shit. I’m sorry!” Bucky starts looking around in earnest for the tabby. “She’s in trouble.”

Tony groans. “If she ends up in my workshop, I’m going to give killing you a try. You can’t do much more damage to me than Dracula already has.”

Bucky snorts. “Why not? Everyone else has tried.”

Tony’s face falls, and Bucky rolls his eyes. “No, don’t. Don’t do that, it’s a joke. Shit.” He heads down the hall next to the kitchen, past the wreckage of what used to be a roll of toilet paper. “Remind me not to make jokes around sensitive people.”

“REEEEEEEEEEEOOOOOOOOOOW!”

Bucky stops dead and triangulates where that caterwaul originates from. The cooling system? No, that’s completely closed off and self-repairing. The walls? No way, she’s not a Kitten Hulk. He pads into the kitchen when the cry sounds again, letting him figure out that… “Cat, you have something against potted plants, don’t ya?” Bucky drops to his hands and knees to stare Little Shit in her very dirty face. She’s sitting prim and proper in a mound of potting soil, the remains of a leafy whatsit in front of her. “What’d it do to you? Photosynthesised at you the wrong way?”

“Mreow.” Little Shit stands up, shakes herself off, and bounds to the doorway.

“Oh, no you don’t you little -” Bucky lunges after her and gets a faceful of refrigerator for his troubles. When he looks back up, Natasha is standing in the doorway, smiling down at him with Little Shit in her arms. Her blacksuit is torn and roughed up, and she’s holding herself at an angle to compensate for her twisted knee, but she’s smiling. Little Shit is probably grinning too, if the slant to her blue kitten eyes have anything to do with it. “Ten points to Little Shit. I call a timeout to regroup.”

Natasha’s laugh rings through the kitchen as Bucky hauls himself to his feet and makes a show of brushing himself off. “What’s wrong, kotenok? Is Bucky being a mean daddy?”

“Ugh! Alright, everyone in timeout!” Tony stomps into the kitchen and throws one of his Iron Man gauntlets at Bucky, who ducks in time to watch the gauntlet crash out the window. “Little Shit lives up to her name once again. She took a not so little shit in one of my boots, and most of my sensitive instruments are covered in cat hair!” He actually growls at Bucky. “Come at me, bro. Let’s see what you’ve got.”

Bucky shrugs. “You first, big guy.”

 


End file.
